What Is NetworkManager? Is It Safe to Disable at Startup?

What Is NetworkManager?

NetworkManager is the background service many Linux distributions use to manage network connections. It handles things like Wi-Fi, Ethernet, mobile broadband and, on some systems, VPN connections. Desktop network menus often rely on it to show available networks, connect automatically and remember saved settings.

The main process is usually named NetworkManager. On most systems it is started by systemd as a system service, not as a normal user startup app. That is why Kudu may not show it under Linux XDG autostart items.

Is It Safe?

Yes, the real NetworkManager service is normally safe and legitimate. It is a standard part of many Linux desktop installs.

A normal copy is typically installed from your distribution's packages and lives in a system path such as /usr/sbin/NetworkManager or /usr/bin/NetworkManager, depending on the distro. If you see a NetworkManager process running from a home folder, /tmp, or another unusual location, treat that as suspicious and investigate it.

If you are unsure, check which package owns the file with your distro's package manager and confirm the service name with systemctl status NetworkManager.

Should I Disable It at Startup?

Usually no. Keep it enabled unless you deliberately use another network management system and know how your machine is configured.

Disabling NetworkManager can stop Wi-Fi from connecting, break automatic Ethernet setup, remove desktop network controls or interfere with VPN connections. On servers, some admins use other tools instead, but on typical Linux laptops and desktops, NetworkManager is the expected service.

If your system uses systemd-networkd, iwd, netplan, or another setup instead, disabling NetworkManager may be fine, but only if you are certain it is not the active manager.

Why Is It Using High CPU or Memory?

Short spikes can happen when your system wakes from sleep, scans for Wi-Fi, reconnects after a drop, switches networks or renegotiates VPN and DHCP settings. That is usually normal.

Higher ongoing usage can point to a problem such as repeated connection failures, unstable Wi-Fi, a bad VPN plugin, DNS issues, or a driver or hardware problem. Logs can help: journalctl -u NetworkManager often shows repeated errors or reconnect loops.

Memory use is usually modest. If it keeps growing or CPU stays high, update your system packages first and check whether one specific connection type or plugin triggers it.

How to Disable or Remove It

Only do this if you already have another working network configuration method.

On systemd systems, disabling the service is typically done with sudo systemctl disable --now NetworkManager. Re-enabling it is usually sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager.

Removing it depends on your distribution's package manager. Be careful: uninstalling it may also remove desktop networking tools that depend on it. On many systems, disabling or removing it will immediately affect internet access.

Where Kudu Helps

Kudu can show live CPU and memory use so you can see whether NetworkManager is actually the process causing load, and whether usage drops after reconnecting or restarting networking. If another app is involved, Kudu helps you spot that too.

On Linux, Kudu's Startup Manager focuses on XDG autostart entries, so it usually will not list core system services like NetworkManager. That is expected. If you are troubleshooting slowdowns, Kudu is more useful here for process monitoring than for disabling this service.

Kudu can also help rule out other causes by checking for malware-style persistence and by cleaning safe temporary app caches, but it should not be used to remove core networking components blindly.

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